Did The Claw Claw-ber Dallas?
I wasn’t at the show in Texas last night, but many of the fan reviews over at U2Tours complain of awful sound; other mailing list posts refer to confused venue security who apparently tried to expel many of the inner circle fans, thinking they had to have Red Zone tickets to get in there.
I knew it was bad when I realized even NPR blogged about it. For those of you who were there, what happened?
I’d love responses from folks who had GA spots and folks who were also in seats—especially if your experience was a good one.
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I had GA and the show was fantastic!!!
The sound problems are similar to that of Wembley with the roof closed. The stadium is sooooo Huge that if the roof is closed it is echoing in the rafters.
The sound in the lower levels and the floor was outstanding. And the band was on FIRE!!!!
Great show unless you were at the top I guess??
But my crew and I had no problems with GA or sound.
We just had our minds blown. And loved it!!
I lined up in GA at 9 am. I was immediately hopeful for a great experience. The Arlington police were incredibly helpful and kind, the line was organized, and there were very accessible facilities and trash cans.
However, once we got close to entering the stadium, things took a turn for the worse. Stadium security began pulling people out of line who hadn’t numbered themselves with a sharpie. I agree with the sentiment of the move, but many people had been there since 9 or 10 in the morning and had simply missed the sharpie or been using the bathroom when it was passed back. They tried to elevate an unofficial fan courtesy thing to an official stadium policy. Fortunately, a few people argued and the Arlington police, who were awesome, let them stay in line.
Once inside, it was clear stadium crews had no idea what was going on. The entrances to the inner circle were labeled with red zone signs, masses of U2 fans were forming in front of the signs and becoming very impatient, and there was a sit in occurring inside the inner circle. Apparently, after some people had been let into the inner circle, stadium crew decided they were there wrongly and tried to force them out. Clearly, these people who had lined up overnight were having nothing of it. They did get everything sorted out within about 5 minutes, but by then, they had effectively erased the benefit of lining up hours before everyone else. Once again, I must applaud the Arlington police who I believe were called into circle to remove the fans, but whose level heads prevailed. The fact that people were openly disobeying them and nobody was tasered or arrested is pretty amazing.
I still got a spot on the rail on Edge’s side. The sound was passable, but the echos were still noticeable even three feet from the stage speakers. The sound at the open-air Raymond James stadium had been the best I’d ever heard. This was pretty awful. Still very enjoyable though.
I have to imagine that most of the organization problems were caused by the inexperienced stadium crew at the new stadium.
i was actually told to sit down by security during the show!!!!! our whole section they were grabbing at us and telling us to sit down!!! NOBODY would sit down though. you don’t sit down at a U2 show.
I was at the U2 concert at Cowboys Stadium Monday night. We sat in section 441 and the sound was terrible up there. It was so bad it usually took a minute or two just to figure out which song they were playing (and I’m not some newbie who only knows the hits). And when Bono spoke we couldn’t understand him at all. We saw Paul McCartney at Cowboys Stadium about a month before. Our seats were in the 300 level and he sounded much better. Visually U2 360 was incredible, but considering you go to concerts first and foremost to hear music, I left extremely disappointed.
We were in the first row of 204, and we could understand what Bono was saying. The sound was really good, but perhaps it could’ve been better. We could not understand what the lead singer for Muse was saying. I would like to comment on what bambam said though. We, too, were told to sit down! First, this meemaw and peepaw behind us asked us to sit, and when we just told them to stand too, they went and told security on us, so security came and told us to sit down. We definitely ignored all of them. I mean, did these people forget where they were? I couldn’t sit still, much less sit DOWN. How could anyone? The show, and the band, was phenomenal.
People sitting down during a U2 show– that’s the lamest most absurd thing I have ever heard… although during the Vertigo tour when they came to St. Louis– there were a few people sitting in the section I was in… even during “…Streets..” which is TRULY absurd !
I agree with the whole sharpie debacle. There were several people there early w/o numbers. The stadium personnel was terrible. Inside and out.The shows however was AMAZING! I was in the inner circle in front of the Edge and the sound was great. Best band ever hands down!
I was part of the “sit-in” in the inner circle. As JCoker mentioned, security didn’t have a clue. We were told that we needed red wrist bands to be in there and that if we didn’t leave we would be taken to jail. One fan was pretty much leading the whole thing. A few people did get up and leave when the Arlington Police showed up. The one fan was telling the Stadium security guy to get U2’s security out there — and he was naming them by name. It was getting very ugly. I wished I had gotten the name of the guy who led the sit-in. I wanted to thank him.
As for the sound….it was excellent on the floor.
It was indeed a fisaco, I was right in the middle of it. My group was among the first 200 to get in. We ran to the back to get into the inner circle. Once we claimed our spots, a group of security and law enforcement came over and told us we have to have a red wristband or we must leave. We argued with them for several minutes, telling them where the actual Red Zone was, but they still demanded we leave – or we would be kicked out of the building.
There was a group of about 40 GAers who sat down in the middle of the inner circle to show that they had a right to be there and were not going anywhere; they did not move until some veteran U2 fans showed them a map of the stage and the police finally figured out that this was not the Red Zone. Plus, the people along the outside rail were chanting, “Let them stay!” (thanks for the support you guys!)
The whole ordeal lasted less than 10 minutes and we eventually got back to our original spot on the front rail, with the policemen apologizing to us for the mixup, saying they were only following orders. Unfortunately I had lost part of my voice arguing with these officials so I wasn’t able to sing full blast for the concert! Ultimately it was bad communication between the U2 crew and the local security team, but it was resolved quickly and hopefully anyone who left the circle came back in.
I was there I love the Show my first one but the build sound high pich sound. I love U2 I hope they come to Minnesota soon.